WO2006031088A1

WO2006031088A1 - Radio frequency identification tag

Info

Publication number: WO2006031088A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/003095
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yong Woong Ryu
Original assignee: Rfcamp Ltd.
Priority date: 2004-09-17
Filing date: 2005-09-16
Publication date: 2006-03-23
Also published as: KR100698364B1; KR20060025887A

Abstract

Provided is an RFID tag having contactless identification function. The RFID tag includes a staple fastened to an object; an RFID circuit module included in the staple to provide information on the object; and an installation means to install the RFID circuit module in the staple. The staple equipped with the RFID circuit module is fastened to an object, thereby strongly coupling the staple and the object. The staple itself is used as a dipole antenna, thereby readily performing transmission/reception with a reader over a long distance. Conventional staple structure is used, thereby reducing investment cost with respect to manufacturing facilities and reducing development period.

Description

RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TAG

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a tag using radio frequency identification technology, and more particularly, to an RPID tag that can be applied to an object requiring auto-identification and strongly fastened to the object to provide information on the object.

Background Art Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags generally indicate devices formed of an IC chip, an antenna, and adhesive material and transmitting or receiving predetermined data with an external reader or interrogator. RFID tags may be called as transponders.

RFID tags transmit or receive data with a reader by using a contactless method. According to the amplitude of a used frequency, inductive coupling, backscattering, and surface acoustic wave (SA'W) may be used. Using electromagnetic waves, data may be transmitted or received to or from a reader by using a full duplex method, a half duplex (HDX) method, or a sequential (SEQ) method.

For example, RFID tags are used in managing products due to the property of the contactless communication method and used multiple times for an IC card for payment or a pass.

Considering frequency band, low frequency bandwidth such as 135 KHz and 13.56 MHz are conventionally used for RFID, however, in these days, the use of ultra high frequency (UHF) of 900 MHz is notably increased in the distribution industry. Particularly, RFID tags are used in a big organization such as Wal-Mart and the Pentagon of the U.S.A to improve a large-scale distribution structure. In this case, the UHF bandwidth using backscattering is substantially used for RFID and passive tags stimulated with respect to an external scan to generate a required current without a built- in battery have been recognized as standard for some time. There are several methods for installing a RFID circuit module to an object.

For example, one is to form a plastic card and a RFID circuit module as a single body by a laminating process, another is to attach a RFID circuit module to an object as an adhesive label, and another is to form a plastic molding containing a RFID module by an injection-molding process. Otherwise, a RFID circuit module by itself may be used as a unique tag.

However, the conventional RFID tags have a poor ability for coupling with the object to be easily separated from the object and they are fragile to be easily broken by a shock.

Disclosure of Invention Technical Goals As described above, a conventional RFID tag has at least one of the following problems in which 1) there may be poor adhesion in harsh environments, 2) chip reliability is difficult to guarantee in harsh environments, 3) a process of manufacturing a tag, particularly, a process of manufacturing an antenna is complicated and has high costs The present invention provides an RFID tag that improves industrial applicability of a RFID technology by applying conventional staple arts, because low manufacturing cost and reduced development period are possible by using existing manufacturing facilities related to staple. A staple may be easily engaged with the object, forms a coupling stronger than a conventional RFID tag, and has a structure favorable for maintaining the reliability of the chip.

The present invention also provides an RFID tag in which an RFID circuit module using ultra high frequency bandwidth of approximately 2.45 GHz is mounted on the staple, thereby smoothly performing transmission/reception between the RFID circuit module and a reader.

Technical Solutions

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag including: a staple fastened to an object; an RFID circuit module disposed on the staple to provide information on the object; and an installation means to install the RFID circuit module on the staple.

The staple is already used in many fields in order to couple an object with another object, and application machines and application methods for the staple are widely popular. Accordingly, manufacturing cost may be notably reduced in comparison with a conventional high-priced RFID tag. However, in using a structure of a staple composed of conductive material, the staple of the present invention may be used as an antenna by itself. When using an extremely high frequency of more than approximately 2 GHz, a built-in antenna or a staple itself as an antenna can sufficiently perform the functionality of an antenna, such that the staple-shaped tag having the RFID circuit module can communicate with a reader satisfactorily.

As a preferable embodiment of the present invention, a leg portion of the staple may be formed as pointed to be easily inserted into an object. In this case, the leg portion of the staple is formed to be slanted inwards toward a lower end of the leg portion.

Also, the installation means includes nonconductive material adhered to both sides or only one of either side of the staple such that the RFID circuit module is fastened to an cut center portion of the staple after the center portion of staple is incised and both terminals of the RFID circuit module are connected to both sides of the cut center portion.

As another preferable embodiment of the present invention, the installation means includes nonconductive material adhered to both sides or only one of either side of the staple such that the RFID circuit module is fastened to an cut space of the staple after the cut space is formed to dispose the RFID circuit module and both terminals of the RFID circuit module are connected to both sides of the cut space.

In this case, since the nonconductive elements are adhered to the RFID tag and the RFID tag is molded by epoxy, the RFID circuit module is surrounded by molding material to be strongly fastened to the staple and has durability against an external impact.

The nonconductive element adhered to the staple is treated by a coining process to have a grooved line or perforated line along which to cut off. The grooved or perforated lines are formed in a perpendicular direction to the staples.

Brief Description of Drawings FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an RFID tag according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a side view of the staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating an RFID circuit module directly wire-bonded to the staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are cross-sectional views of the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of insert molding of the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a top view of the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are side views of the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of an RFID tag according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a front view of a staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a side view of the staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a top view of a staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a top view illustrating an RFID circuit module directly wire-bonded to the staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 18, 19, and 20 are cross-sectional views of the RFID tag according to .the second embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Hereinafter, preferable embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, but the present invention is not limited or defined by the embodiments. Two preferable embodiments of the present invention will be described divided according to which form an RFID module is installed on a staple.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an RFID tag according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a front view of a staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a side view of the staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a top view of the staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating an RFID circuit module directly wire-bonded to the staple according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are cross-sectional views of the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of inserted molding on the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a top view of the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and FIGS. 11 and 12 are side views of the RFID tag according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The RFID tag according to the first embodiment includes a staple 20, an RFID circuit module 35 included in the staple to provide information on an object, and an installation means installing the RFID circuit module 35 in the staple 20.

In order to install the RFID circuit module 35 in the staple 20, the center portion of the staple 20 is cut and the RFID circuit module 35 is interposed between both ends of the incised portions of the staple 20 to be directly wire bonded. In this case, the staple 20 is a form of a staple set 10 which is mounted on a stapler to be easily fastened to the object. Generally, the staple set 10 has a form in which each staple 20 is arranged and detachably engaged in a line to be combined.

A leg portion 20a of the staple 20 is formed to be pointed to be easily inserted into the object. In this case, the leg portion 20a of the staple 20 is formed slanted to have a flat inner surface and a slanted outer surface.

As an example of a process of cutting the center portion of the staple set 10 in which the individual staples 20 are gathered, a cutting roller having small cutting teeth formed circumferentially along the roller is disposed over a plane and the staple set 10 passes straight between the cutting roller and the plane while the cutting roller rotating to remove the center portion of the staple set.

In this case, a guide for keeping a transfer path of the staple set 10 linear parallel to the cutting teeth is required. This is an example of the process of cutting the staple set 10, and there are many methods of cutting the staple set 10.

The RFID circuit module 35 is disposed at an cut or incised portion of the staple set 10, such that terminals of the RPID circuit module 35 are individually corresponding to both sides of an incised portion 30 of the staple 20, the terminals of the RFID circuit module 35 are connected to both sides of the incised portion 30 of the staple 20.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the RFID circuit module 35 is disposed between the incised portions 30 of the staple set 10, a nonconductive element 40a is adhered to the top of the staple set 10 such that the each RFID circuit module 35 is fastened to the staple 20.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, another nonconductive element 40b may be adhered to the bottom of the staple 20, and as illustrated in FIG. 8, the nonconductive elements 40a and 40b may be adhered to both the top and bottom of the staple 20, thereby making a stable fastening structure of the RFID circuit module 35. As described above, in the case the staple set 10 is incised and the RFID circuit module 35 is disposed at the incised portion 30 of the staple 20, the RFID circuit module 35 has to be fixed to the staple 20 by the nonconductive element, which is installation means.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the staple set including the RFID circuit module 35 is insert molded in a state in which the nonconductive element 40a is disposed on the top of the staple set and molded by epoxy, thereby making a stronger structure of installing the RFID circuit module 35 on the staple 20 and protecting the RFID circuit module 35 from being destroyed due to an external impact. In this case, in FIG. 9, the nonconductive element 40a is disposed on the top of the staple set 10 while molding. It is possible to mold as shown in FIG. 9 while the nonconductive elements 40a and 40b are disposed as shown in FIG. 7 or 8.

In a state of fastening the RFID circuit module 35 to the staple set 10, such that the staple set 10 including the RFID circuit module 35 is mounted on a staple and easily fastened to the object, a process for easily separating each staple 20 from the staple set 10 is required.

For this, a process of coining is performed such that the surface portion of the nonconductive elements 40a and 40b has an uneven surface, thereby forming a straight groove 50 between staples 20. Also, another surface of the nonconductive element 40a and 40b is processed by a coining process in order to form the straight groove 50 on the top and bottom surface.

Also, in a process in which the RFID circuit module 35 is disposed at the incised staple set 10 and fastened by the nonconductive elements 40a and 40b, the nonconductive elements 40a and 40b having a size suitable for the width of each staple

20 are adhered, thereby preventing disturbing separation of the staples 20 because the nonconductive elements 40a and 40b are formed as a single body. The staple 20 including the described RFID circuit module 35 may be coupled with the object by the stapler, as a conventional staple. However, since the described staple 20 has a form deformed from the general staple 20, it is required to deform an outlet of the stapler to be suitable for the staple 20.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of an RFID tag according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 14 is a front view of a staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 15 is a side view of the staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 16 is a top view of an staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 17 is a top view illustrating an RFID circuit module directly wire-bonded to the staple according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and FIGS. 18, 19, and 20 are cross- sectional views of the RFID tag according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The RFID tag according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a staple 120 for being fastened to an object, an RFID circuit module 135 included in the staple 120 to provide information on the object, and an installation means inserting the RFID circuit module 135 into the staple 120.

A leg portion 120a of the staple 120 is formed as sharply to be easily inserted into the object. In this case, the leg portion 120a of the staple 120 is formed to be slanted inside toward a lower end of the leg portion 120a.

As illustrated in FIGS. 18 and 19, the RFID circuit module 135 is disposed in an incised space 130 formed in the staple 120. Both terminals of the RFID circuit module 135 are connected to both sides of the incised space 130 by direct wire bonding. After the staple 120 is connected, nonconductive elements 140a and 140b forming the installation- means are adhered to the top and bottom of the staple 120, respectively, thereby installing the RFID circuit module 135 in the staple 120. Also, as shown in FIGS. 18 through 20, the top and bottom of the staple 120 are adhered by the nonconductive elements 140a and 140b, thereby being more strongly fastened and enabling the RFID circuit module 135 to have durability against an external impact.

The staples 120 form a staple set 100 in which the staples 120 are joined in a line. In order to more strongly fasten the RFID circuit module in a state in which the RFID circuit module 135 is fastened to the staple 120, as illustrated in FIG. 9 according to the first embodiment, the nonconductive element 140a is provided on the staple set 100 and formed by a insertion molding to fasten to the RFID circuit module 135.

In a state in which the RFID circuit module is disposed as described above, when epoxy molding is formed on the staple set 100, the RFID circuit module 135 may be fastened to the incised space 130 of the staple 120 by molding material such as epoxy.

As the first embodiment, the nonconductive element 140a disposed on the top of the molded staple 120 is processed by coining such that straight grooves are formed on the top and bottom surface of the staple 120, or the nonconductive elements 140a and 140b coupled with the top and bottom of the staple 120 are processed by coining to form the straight groove 150.

Also, in order to easily separate each staple 120 from the staple set 100 in a stapler, as the first embodiment, the nonconductive element 140 is individually attached to fit the size of the staple 120 and it is prevented that the staple 120 is engaged with another staple 120, thereby easily separating the staple 120. The staple 120 including the RFID circuit module 135 manufactured as described above has a structure in which both sides of the staple 120 are electrically connected to each other around the incised space 130 including the RFID circuit module 135. The form of the staple 120 enables a flow of current to by pass a connected portion excluding an incised space which reduces electric noise being generated while an RFID circuit module communicates with a reader regardless the RFID circuit module, thereby normally operating the RFID circuit module without interference from noise and protecting from noise.

Industrial Applicability

The RFID tag according to the present invention inserts an RFID circuit module into a conventional staple to engage with an object, thereby notably simplifying a process in comparison with a manufacturing process of conventional RFID tags, strongly fastening to the object, and improving durability of the chip with respect to an external impact.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag comprising: a staple fastened to an object; an RFID circuit module included in the staple to provide information on the object; and an installation means install the RFID circuit module in the staple.

2. The RFID tag of claim 1, wherein a leg of the staple is formed to be pointed in order to be easily inserted into the object.

3. The RFID tag of claim 2, wherein the leg of the staple is grinded or formed to be slanted inward toward a lower end of the leg.

4. The RFID tag of claim 1, wherein a center portion of the staple is incised, both terminals of the RFID circuit module are connected to the both sides of the incised portions respectively, and the installation means includes a nonconductive element adhered to at least one of a top and a bottom of the staple such that the RFID circuit module is installed in the incised portions of the staple.

5. The RFID tag of claim 1, wherein an incised space is formed in the staple in order to install the RFID circuit module, the RFID circuit module is connected to both ends of the incised space, and the installation means includes a nonconductive element adhered to at least one of a top and a bottom of the staple such that the RFID circuit module is fastened to the incised space of the staple.

6. The RFID tag according to any one of claims 4 and 5, wherein the nonconductive element is formed on the staple or around the RFID circuit module.

7. The RFID tag according to any one of claims 4 and 5, wherein the nonconductive element adhered to the staple is treated by coining process, which is performed in a perpendicular direction to the arrangement of the staple to make a groove for easy separation of the staple.

8. The RFID tag according to any one of claims 4 and 5, wherein the nonconductive element adhered to the staple is combined with the staple along each grain of the stapler in order to easily perform individual separation of the stapler chip.